Constructvist Approach Theory

For this activity, I used my lesson plan that I did for my Urban Multicultural lesson plan over shapes. The lesson was for first grade students who are asked to identify different types of shapes and understand the difference between them.

As a teacher, I will bring in various shapes and explain what these shapes are and how some can slide, roll, stack, and their corners or rounded edges. I will ask them to observe them and see what characteristics of the shapes are similar and what are different.

To make this activity a constuctivist approach, I will ask the children to take their prior knowledge of what they know about the shapes to mold more of an understanding of them. Where have they seen these shapes before? How were these shapes used? The students will use hands-on activities to master the knowledge of the shapes. If they have seen the shape of a circle on a car (tires) I can ask them why do they think circles are the most effective shape to use for this particular object.  The hands-on activities will also make it a constructivist approach and will be helpful for the students. 

According to Concept to Classroom, there are other ways to help students learn using the constructivist approach. They include:

• prompt students to formulate their own questions (inquiry)
• allow multiple interpretations and expressions of learning (multiple intelligences)
• encourage group work and the use of peers as resources (collaborative learning) 

All of these examples are useful for students to learn about more materials. 

 

PLE #6

Today in class, there was a presentation about knowledge and memory that was presented last week. When they first began presenting, they touched on topics that we learned in the past. At first I was unaware of the reasoning behind re-talking about issues and topics that we already talked about but as they continued I realized they were basing the material that we learned previous to what we would learn in the lesson they would present. 

I have seen this related in my lesson plan that I had to make last week. In the direct teaching lesson plan, we were asked to put information in there that the students would have learned prior to the lesson we were going to teach. We did this as a recap and making connections between what we learned and what we will learn. Both times this was played out and I really appreciated seeing the connection between the concepts. I also liked the illustration about the Pack Man  and how as students and educators, we are continuously being fed and feeding knowledge into the student's heads.

In coninutation, I thought it was funny that they brought up the use of mnemonic devices. I always wondered if those were useful and relevant to the studetns who are learning them, but in a particular website that I found, I thought it was helpful for they described them as a

 "technique to help your brain better encode and recall important information. It’s a simple shortcut that helps us associate the information we want to remember with an image, a sentence, or a word".

According to the website, they have been used for centuries for people to make mental shortcuts between different types of information and I think it is extremely helpful and relevant for children to use. 

PLE #5

PLE #5

In the website ThinkQuest, they are adequately breaking down what it means to learn cognitively by saying that:

"The individual learns by listening, watching, touching, reading, or experiencing and then processing and remembering the information"

 Students take what they are given in class and form more of an understanding about it by using these methods listed above. The purpose behind this is to better understand that each student has his or her own way of understand and comprehending information. As an educator, you should be able to look at the student's style of learning and mold your teaching practices around that student. By doing so, the student and yourself are both able to build a basis of what are the best ways for the students to learn. 

As a teacher, I would like to not only understand my students more but also be able to see what particular learning styles each student needs in order for him or her to excel. At the same time, I need my students to understand their own skills and learning outcomes so that they can be successful in what they do. 

To best solidify this, I think Howard Gardner does an amazing job with his Multiple Intelligence theory to show that different students learn differently and are capable of different types of learning. There are many different forms that students may be intelligent in and if a teacher only addresses one form of learning or intelligence then the child may not be able to excel at a greater capacity than if the teacher addressed these learning styles. 

 
http://library.thinkquest.org/26618/en-5.5.3=cognitive%20learning.htm http://web.cortland.edu/andersmd/learning/cognitive.htm
 

Assessments

Assessments are an integral part of education. Even though it is necessary to have assessments, teachers and students still cringe when they think of the term. According to the Carnegie Mellon website, assessment can have three main purposes:

• Reflects the goals and values of particular disciplines
• Helps instructors refine their teaching practices and grow as educators
• Helps departments and programs refine their curriculum to prepare students for an evolving workplace

These purposes are all three very broad statements, and because of this, educators should help make assessment not as specific as they think.

In this blog post, I will be addressing ways to not only have formal assessments, but also how to have informal assessment and how to do both stress-free.

For informal assessment strategies:

1. Walk around the classroom and meet with students one-on-one. As them to show you what they are working on. For instance, if it is a math problem, have them show you what they are doing. Notice the steps that they are taking. Is it correct? Are they only getting the answer wrong because of a silly mistake or is it because they do not understand the full concept? This is a way to see what they know without formally evaluating them.

2. Split them into small groups. Do the same thing. Have them sit in a group and walk around to the groups to see who is involved and engaging in the conversation. Make sure they are not intimidated by others before you assume they are not learning. Write down things that you notice and address them to that student later on.

3. Have them make a reflective journal. This can show the teacher what they are learning and also what they can be working on while also having them practice writing.

Formal:

1. I do believe that tests are necessary to monitor where the students are. The tests should  not be the only form of assessment, but they should be implemented in the classroom. Do not make the students feel frightened that there is a test. Make sure that are confident and relaxed going into the exercise by talking to them before and help take the pressure off.

2. When taking a formal test, help the students by going through stress-relief exercises. This can be having them dance in their seat for a second or doing breathing exercises.

There are many ways to assess students and teachers should never feel obligated to stick to one particular method.